Lady Tigers come from behind to beat Miami Trace
McClain's Larah Henson scored both goals for the Lady Tigers in their win against Miami Trace Tuesday. (HCP Photos/Jim Jones)
The McClain girls soccer team found themselves in an odd position Tuesday night in Greenfield when they were trailing Miami Trace 1-0 at the half.
But the Lady Tigers, who struggled on offense in that opening 40 minutes of play, came out strong in the second half and got a pair of goals from sophomore Larah Henson and pulled out the exciting come-from-behind Fr,ontier Athletic Conference victory 2-1.
“We had a close game last night at Circleville where we also won 2-1, so that was kind of a tune-up game for us coming into this one tonight,” said McClain head coach Blain Bergstrom.
“Miami Trace really took it to us in the first half and had us on our heels. They were moving the ball very effectively, and they’re a well-coached team that has a lot of girls who have played together for a long time.”
The McClain defense and one of their senior leaders, goal-keeper Kenzie Wise, was really the difference in the game for a second straight night.
The fact that they gave up just a single goal to a couple of really good and experienced teams on back-to-back nights is impressive, to say the least.
“Our defense has really played well for us this year, and we’ve had to replace a couple of pretty good goal-scorers from last year’s team with some new faces, and they’re doing all they can and coming through for us when we need them to,” said Bergstrom.
“Kenzie (Wise) had another solid game for us at the net, and she’s learning how to play with the defense we have this year, doing just a great job. The only goal she gave up tonight was on a really good and difficult shot by them. Our two center backs Bailey Parson and Becca Bergstrom did another good job for us too. They’re really good friends, and they work really well together.
“I challenged our kids at halftime, and I thought our entire back line really came through for us in the second half. Our girls played a lot more solid and made some good touches with the ball,” continued Bergstrom. “I told our girls before the season started that a lot of games this year might be by a 1-0 or 2-1 score, and that’s how we’re going to have to win, and that’s what happened last night and again tonight, so I’m really proud of our team.”
McClain improves to 7-1 on the season and will host Chillicothe Thursday, Sept. 12 in another tough FAC battle starting at 7 p.m.
“Chillicothe comes here Thursday, and that will be another big challenge for us,” Bergstrom said.
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